Achilles feelings about becoming a god are unformed. Yet Achilles is already thinking about his human legacy, with his desire to become a hero. In contrast, Patroclus clearly
doesn’t want Achilles to be a god, because the human Achilles is his friend whom he doesn’t want to lose. Patroclus himself, meanwhile, doesn’t have to worry about his own cosmic legacy in the way that Achilles does—becoming a god isn’t any part of his fate, whatever that might be. And, finally, the two boys are still boys—able to easily forget things like this and go find figs to eat. That won’t always be the case.